Red Rover (2003) Reviews

• an eerie ghost story that is very slow at times(only those with patience should watch)but with an ending that some may find unpredictable

  disdressed122007-01-26

  "Red Rover" also called "The Haunting Within",is an eerie ghost story.it is beautifully photographed with a haunting Celtic soundtrack.the acting is certainly good,and the the movie is very stylish.However it is almost painfully slow at times and sometimes plot is real hard to make sense of. there are a few creepy moments and i was reminded more than once of the movie "Hide and Seek" with Robert Deniro and Dakota Fanning problem is,there are fewer of these eerie creepy scenes than there should be so you will need lots of patience to get through this one.Another reviewer does mention the Changeling,the 1980 horror film,starring George C. Scott and Red Rover definitely does echo that movie heavily.both movies are also very slow at times.so this movie is not entirely original and is almost anti climatic.however the ending was a twist which i did not see coming(though many people likely would have),so that was pleasant surprise.if you don't mind a slow buildup towards an ending that is very subdued(as is the whole movie)you might like this one.for me,i don't think i could sit through it again.the music and the picturesque beauty of the film do elevate it a bit,so i would give it 5/10

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• subdued mystery/thriller

  g404c2006-10-08

  The Haunting Within (listed as Red Rover on IMDb) premiered on Lifetime tonight, and from the moment it began I could tell this was not your run-of-the-mill mystery/thriller. This purely Canadian flick (barring the presence of the two principal American actors William Baldwin and Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) showcases exquisite cinematography, mostly terrific cast, and beautiful locations. In addition, the atmosphere and overall mood complement the style. These qualities make this movie stand out. Unfortunately, the subdued, plodding story and pacing drag the film down from what it could have been: a really spooky ghost story. A few scenes reminded me too much of The Changeling, a movie from 1980. The dark room scene reminded me of Hide and Seek. Having said that, I still liked it, but the pace is painfully slow with few real scares, with the filmmakers clearly opting for more focus on style and details. For instance, in one scene you can tell O'Keefe's hair and costume was put together with the utmost effort and creativity. Also throughout is a unique film score and perfect island location. There is a twist ending which helps elevate this movie some, and I liked how there are few characters because it added a creepy silence. But, the execution of the story itself is lackluster, unable to match the stunning attention to details and overall style. Certainly subdued, but nevertheless engrossing.

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• A confusing plot, weak direction and poor acting take all the thrill out of this thriller.

  Bladerunner•2006-05-01

  First off let me say this, I'm not an overly picky person who finds it fun to trash movies by griping and complaining about every little thing. I*wanted* to like this movie because I thought the premise was intriguing and I believe that Jodi Lyn O'Keefe has some real talent, but how could I? This movie is supposed to be a thriller complete with a shocking ending, but a confusing plot, poor acting and weak direction remove any possibility that we might become invested enough to *be* thrilled or shocked. There are no likable characters for us to really care about, and that alone would be enough to ruin this movie, but far more than that contribute to this disaster. The plot is convoluted and confusing with too many ghostly apparitions that we aren't sure are ghosts or just figments of the lead character's twisted imagination. To be fair, the story does have some potential and fits right in with the recent crop of horror thrillers e.g., The Secret Window, Skeleton Key and Hide and Seek. I *wanted* to like this movie because I thought the premise was intriguing and I believe that Jodi Lyn O'Keefe has some real talent, but how could I? This film though squanders any impact the story may have because it can't decide whether it is a ghost story, a supernatural horror flick or psychological thriller. Because the director cannot decide everything is too loose so there is no tension, which is essential for a thriller or a horror movie. The acting is poor because the writing is poor and the actors can't seem to get a handle on who their character is and why they are acting the way they do. The story is supposed to be about William Baldwin's character Will Taylor trying to cure his mentally ill sister Kylie Taylor played by Jodi Lyn O'Keefe. After the death of their father, Will takes his sister to their ancestral home (that has been in the family for at least four generations) supposedly to confront her with the past and free her from fears and delusions she has about what did or did not happen when she was a child. It sounds ridiculous just writing it here and it is twice as absurd as portrayed in the movie. He takes her off all her medications, isolates her in a very creepy place and basically harasses her into a state of total hysteria. How this is a prescription for Kylie getting "better" boggles the mind. Lastly, William Baldwin — god bless his soul — simply cannot sell the audience on being any kind of believable psychologist or doctor who could really help Kylie. As the movie progresses instead of the plot getting clearer and the action becoming more taut, things get more confounding. Important characters are introduced very late in the movie, which adds to the confusion. As the denouement nears, the editing becomes even more careless which drains any suspense that some events are creating. It is only in the last five minutes that the director decides where this movie is going and we aren't utterly confused about what is happening. Even then though we are left scratching our heads as to what really occurred, because it simply doesn't make much sense. If this film had a more competent director armed with a tighter, *comprehensible* script and possibly a couple of better actors this movie might have been good, but that is a lot of "ifs" & "ands". Instead, what we are left with is a muddled, confusing mess that simply doesn't work. If you want to know how *not* to make a thriller... watch this movie, but if you actually want thrills with your thriller this isn't the film for you.

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• Below par supernatural thriller that has a snail's pace.

  poolandrews2008-09-03

  Red Rover (worst film title in history) starts as siblings Will (William Baldwin) & Kylie Logan (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) discover that their recently deceased father has left them their also deceased mother's ancestral home in New Brunswick on an isolated island called Sutton Island. Still traumatised by witnessing her mother burn to death when she was a young girl Kylie has been under medical supervision ever since but she still has mental issues & her brother Will thinks that spending some time on her own off medication on the island may be good for her. Together they travel to the island & find a nice house full of relics belonging to their ancestors. As Will traces the Logan family back to the house & what actually happened there he discovers several shocking revelations & an ancient family curse that Kylie now has & off medication she loses control as evil forces are able to take over her... This Canadian production was directed by Marc S Grenier & while I agree with some of the IMDb comments on here that Red Rover does actually have quite an interesting story at times & has a certain intrigue I also agree with the comments that point out it's extremely slow moving & takes ages to do not very much at all. First of all that title, Red Rover is an awful title that makes no sense at all & has no apparent connection to the film either. According to the IMDb the working title for Red Rover was The Haunting Within & I have to say that was the on screen title of the version I saw last night & several other IMDb user comments refer to The Haunting Within title so I don't know where the Red Rover name comes from at all or why it would be called that anyway. The script is mildly interesting, the character's, the situation & the setting does draw you in but the pacing is so slow, it's well past the forty five minute mark before anything even remotely supernatural happens & even then it's just a door shutting on it's own which is hardly worth waiting three quarters of an hour for, is it? In fact Red Rover isn't so much an out-and-out ghost story as a supernatural thriller, it has more to do with a family curse than ghosts & the only ghost who turns up is there to actually warn our two main protagonists rather than do them any harm. Now once the twist ending is revealed & Kylie turns evil & has the power to make other's commit suicide I thought that was quite cool but then I thought about it a bit more & said to myself what would be the point of it? OK so you could murder a few people but so what? For what purpose? Why would Kylie want to make anyone kill themselves anyway? The only explanation given is that she was evil & that's it. Basically the twist at first seems OK but once you actually think about it it's rather lame & pointless & has no real relevance to anything else anyway. After an opening credits sequence featuring close-ups of an exotically coloured crab that feels like it belongs in a wildlife documentary all the haunted house clichés get used before the end credits roll. From superstitious locals who won't go near the place to the isolated location with no phone lines to doors shutting on their own to one character seeing ghosts & the other's not believing them to dark past secrets that come back to haunt the present to ancient family curses to people hearing strange things at night to lots of scenes of various character's walking around dark rooms & corridors. I think I might have made Red Rover sound more incident packed than it actually is there, to be fair not a lot happens but the story isn't as bad as it could have been & it did keep me interested until the end. There's no blood apart from a couple of cuts & no great scares either. With a supposed budget of about $5,000,000 I can't really see where all the money went, sure it's well made but not that much actually happens & there are no special effects to speak of & surely William Baldwin didn't cost that much? Apparently filmed on location in New Brunswick in Canada & the scenery is quite nice to be fair. The acting is pretty good & the film has handsome production values. Red Rover (why call it Red Rover? Why?) is a supernatural thriller that kept me watching all the way through to the end but once it had finished I couldn't stop thinking about how slow it was getting there & the actual twist while good at first glance doesn't really amount to much.

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• Slow, boring entry

  slayrrr6662008-05-12

  "The Haunting Within" is a decent, if too slow-going supernatural thriller. **SPOILERS** Following their father's death, Will Logan, (Stephen Baldwin) and his sister Kylie, (Jodi Lynn O'Keefe) learn that they've inherited a castle off the Scottish coast. Upon arriving, they figure it's the perfect place to help her get over her addiction to medication, as her family history has forced her into a state of extreme chemical dependence. As they start the treatment in isolation, she quickly begins to have vivid visions and dreams of her ancestors, who died in the house. Hearing from the locals, who are fearful of venturing there, that the place is cursed due to the family's long history of being involved in the witchcraft and the occult, the stories are blamed for her visions and quickly dismissed as positive results of the treatment. As the visions continue, she discovers a terrifying family secret that threatens both her sanity and their reasons for staying on the island anymore, and race to stop it before it comes to pass. The Good News: This one here did have a few good scenes when it really tried to. The fact that the ghost sightings in here were actually pretty good is something to be accomplished, since there's a couple in here that actually have something to them. The main sighting on the island, where the chilling nursery rhyme in the eerie voice, a common factor in most of the sightings, comes into play again, and from there it goes into a really nice scare tactic with the ghost getting involved, and the fact that it's actually done to look very ghostly, with the shimmering outline and see-through body come complete with the unidentifiable features and make it a really winning-looking ghost. The later shots of the ghost appearing in photographs or the little ghost boy are also used to great effect, and by venturing out into violence with the death of animals or other manifestations, it quickly comes across as something to be reckoned with. The film has a rather cool plot as well, making for some really creepy fun to be had and a bounty of opportunities to do so, and capitalizes on enough to make it worthwhile. There's also a fairly ingenious twist within the fun and enjoyable finale that is certainly fun, and with the good parts to be had here, become the reasons why this one works. The Bad News: This one here wasn't completely terrible, but for the simple fact that there's one extremely fatal flaw to this one that holds it down. The simple fact that the film is that it's just incredibly dull and slow-going. While the intriguing story keeps it afloat at first, the fact that nothing at all is happening in this one soon grows apparent and there's nothing it does to remedy it. It has such a long period of time between something happening that there's periods of time where up to fifteen minutes go by without anything happening beyond the need for explaining the plot threads. That there's a continuation of the singular tactics of simply yelling at each other to believe the other one over the truth to a ghost story or the continued need for them to keep her medicated with pills. It's all in here, and these scenes are just no fun at all to keep having to view, as well as the fact that they take up a ton of time to get through since there's absolutely nothing here that will keep horror fans interested. That's the main part that doesn't work with that, is that it never feels like a horror film all that much since too much time is taken up with the drama portions of the film take center stage, and it's not likely to ever be forced out and changed around. By forcing so much time into an area that won't generate anything for horror fans, to have a large portion here that does so is something to get over. The inherent dullness, though, will be the film's single biggest hurdle. The Final Verdict: An extremely slow-going, though mildly interesting ghost film, this one offers up a couple of decent scares in the midst of it all. Give this one a shot only if you can take the simply snail-like pace here, otherwise this one is best left avoided and ignored. Rated R: Violence and Language

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